If you’ve been putting off buying ProBlogger the Book (the ‘real’ paper one) that I wrote with Chris Garrett – today’s the day to pick one up at Amazon.

Normally retailing for $24.99 today they have it at 44% off – just $14.04. They often have had it at 30% off so this is the lowest I’ve seen it go.

I’ve no idea how long it’ll last at this price – so whether it’s for you to help you ramp up your blog in the new year or whether it’s a stocking stuffer or Kris Kringle gift for a friend or family member – grab your copy today.

PS: this is the 2nd edition of this book and it’s also available for Kindle as well as as an Audio version.

Later today the first ever ProBlogger Academy short course, “Creating Killer Content for your Blog,” goes live. Have you joined yet?

It’s going to be an exciting week. Chris Garrett and I have put together some great content and are looking forward to interacting with students.

This five-module course will walk you through the five key aspects of creating a blog with the type of content that will:

• engage the readers you have
• draw in new readers
• build your profile and credibility
• help you to better monetize your blog.

If those things are of interest, this is the course for you.

What is it?

The course is presented with videos and articles over five modules (in five days) by myself and Chris Garrett (co-author of the ProBlogger book) and covers these topics:

1. Planning your content: coming up with ideas, finding your voice, types of posts to try
2. Structuring your content: writing your content in a way that works
3. Polishing your content: taking good content and making it great
4. Killer multimedia content: podcasts, interviews, slide shows, and video
5. Live webinars: two Q&A calls with myself and Chris at the end of the week

The live calls will be held on Friday at different times of the day to make them accessible to as many people as possible in different time zones—but we’ll also record them for you.

You have access to all of the content for 12 months after the course runs, plus you’ll gain access to a Q&A tool to engage with other participants and Chris and myself during the coming week.

Join the Fun and Learning Today

Best of all, this five-module course costs just $29.95 (cheaper if you buy the four-course bundle we’re offering). Check out all the details and sign up today here.

Five days of learning for under $30? You won’t find courses like this for less!

Doors open about seven hours from now, but sign up now to get access when they do.

It’s going to be a fun week and I look forward to connecting with you personally during the course!

While great content doesn’t guarantee success,  it sure does help! Yet so many bloggers struggle to produce content that engages with and meets the needs of readers.

As a result, Chris Garrett and I have put together a brand new short course—Create Killer Content for your Blog—to help set you on the right track.

The course is presented over five modules (in five days):

1. Planning your content: coming up with ideas, finding your voice, types of posts to try
2. Structuring your content: writing your content in a way that works
3. Polishing your content: taking good content and making it great
4. Killer multimedia content: podcasts, interviews, slide shows, and video
5. Live webinar: a Q&A call with myself and Chris at the end of the week.

This course starts Monday, 6 December and it costs just $29.95 (or $99 if you bundle it with the other 3 upcoming Pillars of ProBlogger courses).

If you can’t do it all in the week in which the course is scheduled, don’t worry: you’ll have access to all the course materials for 12 months, so you can take it at your own pace.

Who is this short course for?

Creating Killer content is for you if…

• you’re struggling with producing content for your blog
• you’re trying to find your voice as a blogger
• you’ve run out of ideas to write about
• you’re just looking for a little refresher and/or inspiration.

Note: we’re assuming participants of this course have a blog. If you don’t, check out the free Getting Started Blogging course.

So if you’d like to inject your blog with some killer content, this is a course for you. Sign up today here.

Those visiting ProBlogger today will notice that we’ve just released a new theme. It isn’t a complete overhaul in terms of look—rather, it’s an evolution or refresh of our existing design (much needed). Hopefully you’ll find ProBlogger a little easier to navigate and a little less cluttered.

There are quite a few changes in the back end of the site, though, in that we’ve moved over to the Genesis framework. Brian Gardner from StudioPress has been incredibly helpful in getting us set up—I can’t recommend their themes enough!

I’ll let you look over the theme for yourself to see how we’ve gone about it. There are a lot of small changes including:

• threaded comments—something that has been requested a lot
• more prominent social media promotion of our Facebook and Twitter accounts
• a refreshed front page with new featured-post layout
• videos now are full size on single post pages (not more squinting)
• those who leave comments will be depicted in an avatar alongside their comments (pulled in via Gravatar).

There are a few other small tweaks around the site, and there will be at least a couple of new additions in the coming weeks.

I’m sure there will also be a few small bugs that we’ll need to iron out, but overall things are pretty stable and I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback (give those threaded comments a workout)!

PS: Some people have commented on Twitter that they want the Subscribe to Comments feature switched back on. I’m interested to hear whether that’s the consensus—let me know what you think.

One of my favorite times of the week on Twitter is on Monday mornings, my time (Sunday night for many of you), when Twitter comes alive with #blogchat.

#blogchat is a hashtag on Twitter that ties together hundreds of bloggers all talking about a particular aspect of blogging for an hour or so. It starts at 8pm Central US time, and usually revolves around a specific topic and/or guest host. Bloggers exchange ideas, ask questions, and network. It’s a frenzy of activity, which can seem a little overwhelming, but once you get into the swing of it, it’s a lot of fun.

You can learn more about #BlogChat and how to participate here.

This coming Sunday/Monday (depending where in the world you’re located), I’m cohosting #blogchat and we’ll be looking at the topic, “How to Monetize Your Blog.”

I’ve got a little information prepared to share, but the hour (and I’ll probably hang out for longer) will largely be an exchange of ideas. I’m happy to answer as many questions as I can during the hour—so if you have any, do come prepared.

I’ve also promised a few people to give a bit of the backstory behind my upcoming project, @Feelgooder (which I hope to soft launch in the coming week).

Remember: it’s on at 8pm Central US time on Sunday night. So mark it in your calendar, set up a way to follow the #blogchat hashtag, and follow me on Twitter at @ProBlogger!

It’s that time of year! This Friday is Blog Action Day — a chance for bloggers the world over to raise awareness of a particular issue.

This year, the theme is water, and the good people at Blog Action Day HQ have announced that the White House and the UK Foreign Office will be joining the chorus to help bring attention to water issues this year.

So will we.

Have you registered for Blog Action Day? How will you focus your blog on the topic of water for the day?

The second edition of the ProBlogger book (hard cover) came out earlier this year and enjoyed some great reviews (you can read what was new in the second edition here).

It also came out in a Kindle version at the same time, but in the last few months another version was released: the audio version.

At the time it was released, I was traveling, so I put off posting about it (and then promptly forgot to do so). So here’s my belated launch post!

The audio version wasn’t heard by either Chris or myself (it’s a little strange hearing someone else tell your own story in the first person) but I suspect the guy reading it does so in a clearer voice than either Chris and I could manage with our crazy accents!

I know that many of you learn more effectively by hearing than reading, so if you’ve not yet read the book, you can grab the audio copy here and listen to it on your iPod, on your computer, or in your car.

Enjoy!

Update: this competition has now ended. Winners are announced below.

Do you want to win a pass to Blog World Expo this year?

I have two – just for ProBlogger readers that the team at BWE have kindly offered. One even comes with a voucher to go towards your flights to BWE with South West Airlines!!!

Please read the following carefully to make sure you’re eligible and able to attend – we want these passes to be used by people who need them.

The prizes

There are two prizes as follows:

1. A full access pass to the whole of Blog World Expo (worth $1195) – that’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s sessions, the exhibit floor, all the parties and the social media business summit. This one also comes with a voucher to go towards your flights to BWE flying with South West Airlines ($300 value).
2. A Weekend Pass to Blog World Expo (worth $495) – this one gives you access to the sessions on Friday and Saturday as well as all three parties and the exhibit floor.

Important Notes:

• BWE is on from 14-16 October – please only enter this if you’re able to attend!
• in both prizes you’ll need to arrange your own accommodation.
• with prize #2 you’ll need to arrange your own travel.
• the competition is open to people around the world but to international readers you’ll need to make sure you can get there under your own steam.
• please note that these prizes are for those who have not already got tickets. We’re not able to organise refunds on previously purchased tickets but this is to get a couple of extra ProBlogger readers along.
• You can enter both competitions but only once per competition.

How to Enter

I’m going to effectively run two competitions here. One for each prize. I’ll draw the winners in 36 hours time so this is a quick competition. You can enter both competitions but only once per competition.

Competition #1 – to be in the running to win prize #1(full access pass with the travel voucher) you need to tweet out your desire to win a ticket.

The tweet needs to include a shout out to @blogworld and @southwestair as well as the hashtag #PbBWEPass. I’ll randomly choose someone tweeting that and notify them via Twitter (so please make sure you follow @problogger so I can DM you).

Competition #2 – to be in the running to win prize #2 (the weekend pass) simply leave a comment below. Please include the word ‘blogworld’ so I make sure none of your comments get caught in my spam filter. I’ll notify the winner by the email address that they leave with their comment.

Prizes will be drawn 36 hours after this post goes live to enable winners to make their travel arrangements. That’s 4pm Melbourne time on Sunday 3rd October.

Good Luck Everyone!

Update: Thanks to everyone who entered – I’m closing this now and will get in touch with the winners shortly. Congrats to @jenwilsonphoto and Alison Golden who won!